{"id":58,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-03-04 21:31:58","latitude":41.50729178729999802044403622858226299285888671875,"longitude":-81.7123603820999733216012828052043914794921875,"title":"Lake Erie ","subtitle":"&quot;Lake Erie is Dead&quot;","fullsize":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/press-66aerial_43e3dfce85.jpg","address":"Cleveland, OH","zoom":13,"creator":["Michael Rotman"],"description":"By the 1960s, Lake Erie had become extremely polluted, in part due to the heavy industry that lined its shores in Cleveland and other cities. Factories dumped pollutants into the lake and the waterways that flowed into it (like the Cuyahoga River) without much government oversight. Waste from city sewers made its way into the lake too, as did fertilizer and pesticides from agricultural runoff. <br />\r\n<br />\r\nAs a result of these pollutants, Lake Erie contained increased levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, which contributed to eutrophication - a process that encourages the development of algal blooms. Dead fish littered the shoreline as a lack of oxygen in the water led to massive fish kills. Episodes like this led to the coining of the phrase - more sensational than factual - &quot;Lake Erie is dead,&quot; which started to appear in national publications in the late 1960s. <br />\r\n<br />\r\nIn 1969, the Cuyahoga River caught fire, bringing more negative national publicity to Cleveland and its polluted waterways. Even though pollution in Lake Erie was a regional problem, Cleveland bore the brunt of the negative publicity. <br />\r\n<br />\r\nThe burning river and the &quot;dead&quot; lake were major impetuses for the Federal government to step in and deal with water pollution in Cleveland and across the nation. In 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act, a measure that tightened regulations on industrial dumping. That same year, the United States and Canada signed the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in an attempt to lower the amount of pollutants entering the Great Lakes. <br />\r\n<br />\r\nLocally, the city took steps to improve its sewer system and better monitor water quality. Mayor Carl Stokes led the way, pledging to clean up Cleveland&#039;s waterways.  He appeared before Congress (and his brother, United States Representative Louis Stokes) in 1970 to discuss the issue and seek federal aid.  Carl&#039;s involvement brought significant media attention to the problem and contributed to the national movement against water pollution.<br />\r\n","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"The most notable public beaches are Huntington Beach (Bay Village), Edgewater Park (Cleveland), and Headlands Beach State Park (Mentor). Many other smaller marine access points support fishing, hiking, and/or boating.","lede":null,"website":null,"related_resources":["Egan, Dan. 2018. <em>The death and life of the Great Lakes</em>. New York : W.W. Norton & Company","Samuel, Sigal. “<a href=\"https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/2/26/18241904/lake-erie-legal-rights-personhood-nature-environment-toledo-ohio\">Lake Erie Now Has Legal Rights, Just like You.</a>” Vox. February 26, 2019."],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/press-66aerial_43e3dfce85.jpg":{"id":699,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"River Enters Lake, 1966","description":"The brown, polluted waters of the Cuyahoga River enter Lake Erie in this 1966 photo. | Cleveland State Library Special Collections | 1966","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/press-66aerial_43e3dfce85.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/roberts0124_eb2dd323a0_ae910554f6.jpg":{"id":743,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"&quot;Lake Erie, the Dead Sea?&quot;","description":"This editorial cartoon by Bill Roberts appeared in the Cleveland Press on June 3, 1968 | Cleveland State Library Special Collections | June 3, 1968 | Bill Roberts","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/roberts0124_eb2dd323a0_ae910554f6.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/roberts1134_4bfe7a5efa_ecfcffc143.jpg":{"id":744,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"&quot;Pollution Tidal Wave&quot;","description":"This editorial cartoon by Bill Roberts appeared in the Cleveland Press in 1970. | Cleveland State Library Special Collections | 1970 | Bill Roberts","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/roberts1134_4bfe7a5efa_ecfcffc143.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/eriealgae_cda11deaa2.jpg":{"id":920,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Algae in Lake Erie","description":"Algae grows in the waters of Lake Erie off Cleveland. | Cleveland State Library Special Collections","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/eriealgae_cda11deaa2.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/press-64sample_ff2ab18e0a.jpg":{"id":921,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Pollution, 1964","description":"A man takes a sample of Lake Erie water polluted with a milky discharge in 1964. | Cleveland State Library Special Collections | 1964","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/press-64sample_ff2ab18e0a.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/press-71sign_b55b0480ec.jpg":{"id":922,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Warning Sign, 1971","description":"A sign posted near a Lake Erie beach in Cleveland, 1971 | Cleveland State Library Special Collections | 1971","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/press-71sign_b55b0480ec.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/press-pollutionhearings68_e2fa166ef6.jpg":{"id":924,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Protestors, 1968","description":"Anti-pollution protestors hold signs outside of the water pollution hearings in Cleveland, 1968. | Cleveland State Library Special Collections | 1968","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/press-pollutionhearings68_e2fa166ef6.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/original/8910e2cbf8e8842eeeb9c3e87b69d35a.mp4":{"id":8409,"mime-type":"video/mp4","title":"Lake Erie is Dead","description":"Gerald Meyer describes the state of Lake Erie prior to cleanup efforts and environmental regulations. | CSU Center for Public History + Digital Humanities","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/8910e2cbf8e8842eeeb9c3e87b69d35a.jpg"}}}